Coal-chute.



vCoal-Chutes, of which the following 'il tltlrtttltl y lilttllil @lilllhllttjhh GARY N. GRAY, O3? SCRANTON, ANI) JOHN J. IVICNULTY, OF OLYPHANT, PENNSYLVANIA.

COALCHUTE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 22, 19in.

To ZZ wiwi/t t may concern.'

' Be it known thatwe, Gram* N. Git-ii.' and JOHN J. MGNULTY, citizens ot the United States, and residents o-tV Scranton, Lackiwaniia county, State'ot Pennsylvania, and tllyphant, Lachawanna county, State ot Pennsylvania, respectively, have invented certain new and useful.V lnipi.'o\.'einents in is a` specification.

The principal object of our invention is to provide a coal chute ot such construction that by its use a minimum percentage ot the coal is broken as it descends therein t'roni a higher to a lower level. y

A further object of our invention is to provide a construction ot chute in which, while the coal is permitted to travel downwardly therein without becoming blocked oi' in any way interrupted, the speed ot travel is so controlled and retarded that the coal is prevented .troni unnecessarily breaking into smaller particles. In this way ,a material decrease in the percentage ot waste due to the breaking up of the coal into particles too small for certain uses is effected. This result is effected by use by reason ot the tact that the coal is caused to descend in what may be described as a step by step movement. Vhile the coal may be described as traveling downwardly in a spiral path such path is divided into a plurality ot steps which are suitably arranged, one below the other as shown.` In the construction shown four of these steps constitute a complete spiral or circle, but the number may be increased within certain limits it desired. rllhe steps are arranged in succession one below the other and each succeeding step is arranged and inclined .in a direction trans verse Ato the arrangement and inclination of the immediately preceding step.

@ther objects and advantagesot our invention will be referred to in the detailed description thereof which ifollows or will be apparent from such description.

In the accompanying (ilrawiiigs we have Villustrated one form ot a convenient ein bodiinent ot our invention but it will be understood that changes in the details oit construction may be made within the scope ot the claims without departing tlieiei'roin.

In the drawings Figure l is a perspective view of a coal. chute embodying our invention; /Fig 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view oit the saine', andV central column or post upon which the steps toi-ming the chute are secured and supported. 2 designates a series ot' steps each of which is provided upon its .inner side edge with a depending triangulaiI flange i by means of which it is secured to a side ot the post or column lV by means of screws, bolts or othersuitable fastenings. The outer endv and outer side edge ot each ot the Vsaid steps are provided,respectively, with tlanges 4t and 5. The bottoni of each ot' the said steps is of angular shape in transverse section, asV is clearly shown, that is to say, opposite portions (S and 7 oft' the bottoni ot each or' the said steps incline toward a diagonal line 8.

It will beobserved upon reference to the drawings, particularly Fig. 8, that the steps are arranged successively with respect to each other and that the `lower.forward end of'wliat may be termed the preceding step overlaps the, inner side edge ot' the .next sncceeding step and that adjacent overlapi'iing steps are arranged substantially at right angles to each other. It will also be observed from Fig. 3 that in the present construction four of these steps constitute a complete cir cle or spiral. y

In order to render the structure rigid and for the purpose of holding the outer end and side portions of the steps viii `rigid tiXed relation with respect to each other, we hare provided angle irons l0 at the 'tour corners of the chute, securing thesaine to the flanges 4. and 5 of the respective steps by means of bolts 1l.. g By means of bolts the flanges df and 5 of.' adjacent steps are fastened together which also adds to the strength and rigidity of the structure.

It will be understood that the chute may be constructed oie suoli height as inay be desii-able by employing a greater or less nuinber of the steps. f

In the construction illustrated we have shown the steps arranged. so that Vthe coal travels around the post or column l in an anti-clockwise direction. Obviously the ai.'- rangement inay be such that the coal is caused to travel :in a clockwise direction. without departing in any way from our invention.

In the use of a construction embodying eurinvention the coal is delivered on to the uppermost of the steps which we shall designate as L in Figs. l and 3 of the drawings. The coal thus delivered travels downwardly .in the direction of the arrow on the step a shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. It is delivered therefrom on to the next succeeding step which we have designated o. It will be seen that the coal when it is delivered on to the step Z) is traveling or moving substantiallyV at right angles to .the direction of inclination of the step o. It may be that the coal will strike the step Z) or any one oi the next succeeding steps with suliicient `speed to travel beyond the diagonal line S (which is the meeting line between the angularly related sides 6 Vand 7 Vof the bottom ot the respective steps) on to the upwardly inclined portion 7 of the said step. The coal having reached the step Z) changes its 'direction and moves downwardly thereon in the direction of the arrow substantially at right angles tothe direction in which it traveled downwardly over the lstep a. This action is repeatedrom the step o to the next succeeding step c and from the latter to the next i succeeding step- Z and so on to the end of the chute. Y Y A le have demonstrated that as a result of delivering the coal downwardly in the chute step by step in the manner described, that "is, by causing it to move downwardly in a 2. A chute for deliverin'gxcoal orsimilarV material from a higher to a lower level comprising a plurality of steps each oitv which is provided with a plurality of flat portions, one of which portions is inclined downwardly at a selected angle and extended in thedirection substantially at right angles to the direction of the immediately preceding and succeeding steps and the other of which portions is inclined downwardly in the same direction/ata less angle and is also inclined outwardly and upwardly from its point of junction with the other flat portion in al directionftransverse tothe first men-y ACopies of Athis patent may be obtained for tioned inclination, substantially as described.

8. A chute for delivering coal or similar material from a higher to a lower level comprising a plurality of steps spirally arranged, eachot said steps consisting of a flat portion inclined downwardly at a selected angle in a direction substantially at right angles to the direction in which the corresponding portions of the immediately preceding and succeeding steps extend and also a flat portion inclined downwardly at a less angle than the other fiat portion and also inclined upwardly and outwardly :from its line of junction with the first named [lat portion and means for supporting the said steps, substantially as described.

l. A coal chute comprising a plurality ot steps arranged in spiral relation, each step being adapted to discharge coal or similar material on the next succeeding step and each step being provided with means which tends to prevent the increase ot the momentum of the coal in its travel toward the bottoni of the chute.

5. A coal chute comprising a plurality of steps arranged in spiral relation, the said steps being arranged so that each of them extends in a direction substantially at right angles to the direction in which the next preceding and succeeding steps extend and the said steps causing the coal or similar material to travel downwardly in corresponding directions and each comprising means for preventing the acceleration of the speed of travel of the coal or other similar malerial as it moves downwardly in the chute,v

o face in two forwardly downwardly inclined planes meeting along a substantially diagonal line.

8. A spiral chute or separator comprising a succession of plates each having its face in a plurality of forwardly downwardly inclined planes.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have hereunto signed our names this 14th day of July, A. D. 1915.

GARY N. GRAY. JOI-IN J. MCNULTY.

In the presence oli'- MARIE LorTUs, A. E. TIFFANY.

`five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

